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 Beauty and fashion, health updates, pets, gadgets Concert Simply Red, Farewell Tour Simply Red fans are looking forward to the forthcoming concert at Golf Costa Adeje on July 20th. The British soul band who also ventured into R&B, rock, reggae and jazz have sold over 50 million albums over their 25 year career. They are now due to split following the Farewell Tour and according to the face and voice of Simply Red, Mick Hucknall, "I've kind of decided that the 25 years is going to be enough, so I intend that this will be the last Simply Red tour."  Island Connections delved a little deeper into the background of this event. At a recent press conference, Jordi Esplugas of Canarias Live Festival commented, “this concert comes at a time of crisis when it is more important than ever to give a push to our economy”. He spoke generally of Tenerife, saying “we have to reinvent tourism, the destination and create new attractions. This is what Canarias Live are doing. We believe in the future of the Canaries but we must innovate and make changes”. Canarias Live Festival are grateful for the support they have received from the business sector and all our sponsors and collaborators which include Turismo de Tenerife, the Adeje council and the Canarian government. He continued, “We are much more visible on the internet, with big international artists associated with the island. Just look at Rock in Rio and what that has done for a small village just outside Madrid”. Alberto Delgado Prieto, Canarian government minister for culture and sports, congratulated Sun Live and said, “we are going down the right road for the future of the Canaries”. José Miguel Rodríguez Fraga, mayor of Adeje commented, “this is not a public initiative, but created by a group of businessmen. We (the council) are going to support this event and hope it all goes well”. Esplugas concluded, “This project has required an investment of nearly €2 million“, and he hinted that, “the rhythm of our concerts could well increase in the future”. Island Connections also caught up with the main collaborators and sponsors for their comments. Ezequiel Pérez Gonzalez, Manager for Tenerife, Heineken Canarias: We have no specific budget allocated to sponsorships but this year is difficult and the best way to help our customers is with sponsorships like this. We usually sponsor 10 to 12 events in the Canaries each year. We pay much attention to international artists. The main reasons for our sponsorship are that we can bring our product to the customers who will associate our image with how much they enjoyed the concert. It promotes our image abroad as being associated with international music. An event such as this will bring more visitors to the island, and therefore more business for everyone. It will help the South to do well. We are all together in this and now Golf Costa Adeje is known as a place where international artists perform every year. Gavin J Brooking, Managing Director of Excel Hotels & Resorts: Tenerife today offers many new and exciting opportunities on which to capitalise and raise the profile of the island. Events like the recent concerts featuring international artists, were simply not thought possible 10 years ago. In the past many businesses exploited the tourist market without giving anything back to the island and its people. It is, however, encouraging that many local businesspeople today take great pride in their island and are active in collaborating with each other, often in the face of a reluctance on the part of the authorities, to create new initiatives which will aid Tenerife in its drive to become more successful. One of these initiatives is the upcoming Simply Red concert which will help highlight Tenerife's many unique selling points and will create the kind of international exposure that this incredible holiday destination deserves. The more household names that visit the island, the more publicity it will attract. We must continue this positive strategy to ensure that the south does not stagnate and continues to nurture a reputation as one of Europe's best holiday choices. Marco López Díaz, Director General, Dream Place Hotels & Resorts: We don't have a specific budget for sponsorships but we supported Canarias Live when Elton John came to Tenerife, and that went well – it was positive for the island, for us and for everyone. Elton John's team stayed here, but he left the island directly after his concert. We suppose that Simply Red will be staying here, but that is up to the artist. It is very positive to be associated with any cultural event and from the marketing point of view, Canarias Live Festival are doing a great job and we wish them luck. With international artists visiting the island there are repercussions on the internet and in other media which are really positive. This is another attraction which makes it worth coming here and I would like to see six or seven events like this planned ahead throughout the year. This would encourage people not only to come here but also to book their holidays in advance, as used to be the case. Gian Leo Chiori, owner and importer for the Canaries, Parah: We have a high class, quality product and are supporting this event, as there is no other place with so many repeat visitors as Tenerife. It doesn’t suffer any catastrophes, it is in the middle of the Atlantic but part of Europe too, and security is good, so people feel at home here. We have sponsored all three concerts, this gives me publicity and prestige, and could double the number of new clients for us this time. The first concert was a little disorganised, the second one better, so just imagine how this one will be! For the first time the concert, set in a unique location – green, with lots of air, is in the summer, bringing more people here at a time which is traditionally not good for tourism on the island. Maybe this will generate more repeat visitors as well. Higinio Guerra, co-owner, El Faro Chill Art: This is the best year ever for an event like this. If this year is bad and this concert goes well, then much more will be possible in the future. It is Sun Live Festival’s idea to bring well known artists here who would attract more tourism, to do something different to increase tourism and income in the area. This will be the only Simply Red concert in Spain. We are lucky to get international artists to come to Tenerife. It is difficult to make contact with them, and they won’t come here for silly money. We were really lucky with Elton John, he was offered double to go to Las Palmas. Paul Serck, director, Golf Costa Adeje: We don’t directly sponsor the concert, but we give the site at the golf course for the event. It’s a beautiful, quality site. We have nothing to do with the organisation of the event, except we do clean the site afterwards ourselves. Machines go around straight after the concert gathering the rubbish. The grass is a very strong variety which isn’t damaged by it. Three events a year would be good for the island, and a winter event would be great for the residents. Regarding the recession, with golf we have passed the dip and now we are going up again. It will stay good as long as the pound doesn’t go down. César Picca Pérez, Bobet Canarias We are in the business of billboards and high technology publicity. For us this concert is an interesting project which has got to give results. Events of this level have got to help the whole area, in fact the whole island. The Adeje council also knows that there are benefits in backing such projects. These businessmen have joined forces. With them the economics of the project takes second place, the big thing is to make it work. None of them are egotistical and I am happy to help them. Alejandro Calvo, commercial director, Mare Nostrum resort: We haven’t sponsored other concerts, this is a one-off agreement with Sun Live Festival because it fits our own profile. The benefits are more publicity and hopefully more tourists in July. We sponsored this one because it is Simply Red’s only concert in Spain and we think that is important. More top level concerts would be good for the island, but it is difficult to bring these artists here without lots of institutional backing. Regarding Tenerife, nowadays we have to fight for our share of the business with other destinations. We are too expensive. Appropriate flights would help too, we’re marketing quality and we’re getting low cost flights which that type of client wouldn’t entertain. José Fernando Cabrera, president ASHOTEL: ASHOTEL, which is the association of hotel owners in Tenerife, has collaborated with the organisation of this concert which is very interesting for the island. Because of events such as this, our destination is becoming more important for Europeans. I think we should have more concerts and sports events such as tennis matches, and that more events should be planned per year. We have been helping with this concert by getting the hotels involved and haven't had much time, but we have designed all-in package holidays which include flights, hotel accommodation, excursions, transfers, and tickets for the concert. I think we have to rescue Son Latinos, not to take place on the beach but in some other location. It could be done. We've got enough hotel beds available, so the island could handle something of the magnitude of the recent Rock in Rio which took place just outside Madrid and where individual concerts were attracting up to 80,000 people. Daniel Adrián, co-owner of Adrián Hoteles: At Adrián Hoteles we support events which we consider to be beneficial to Tenerife. They give us an opportunity to reach the public and to attract a younger and more dynamic clientele. Simply Red have chosen Tenerife for their one concert in Spain, this gives us international prestige. We are also an official point of sale for tickets through our website, www.adrianhoteles.com We want to support Sun Live Festival. The main benefit is that we can enjoy seeing well known international artists. We hope that, little by little, Tenerife can become a destination famous for offering not only sun and the beach, but also music and art. Our clients would like more concerts and some theatre in the south. They want to sunbathe, but they want entertainment too, especially our winter visitors with more money to spend. Culture is necessary, not only for visitors but for our residents too. I hope we can all make Tenerife an island of leisure and entertainment. Karina Zaplana, Commercial Director, Gran Meliá Palacio de Isora Resort: Our company doesn't habitually sponsor events, but if an interesting opportunity presents itself, then it is always a pleasure to help. We think that it is always good to support concerts of an international level and cultural events because they give more publicity to the island. They put the island on the map in the press, on the internet etc., and people can see Tenerife from another point of view and not just as a sun and beach destination. We think that the island needs more cultural events, which could be pop, rock or classical music concerts or opera and theatre. This would give the tourist an opportunity to enjoy more than just the sun, the beach and the hotels. The Simply Red concert complements the marketing of the island, every little helps, and the more good publicity we have, the better. David Santana Fraga, Riskmedia International and Grupo Audio Studio Audioformación: Riskmedia: As insurance brokers specialising in audiovisual events and shows, we do sponsor these shows annually. From the beginning of this Sun Live Festival project we knew we had to help them as much as possible so that they could take advantage of our services. I hope that everyone will see, after this third concert, that it generates a brand and the hope of new business, especially in tourism which needs new formulas to attract visitors and put the name of Tenerife where it deserves to be. We are now known all over the world at all levels. This is a great way to receive new visitors. It has to complement the actual marketing for the island now and in the future, but for this we need the support and confidence of everyone, especially Tinerfeños. Audioformación: This is our first year as a partner of Sun Live Festival and we had no doubts about sponsoring this event. This helps to improve Tenerife's position in the market and we hope to add our grain of sand to promote the Canaries in the world. This will generate good results for tourism and more business for many Canarian establishments. The name of the island is out there worldwide in a way that we never before imagined. Anyone who searches for the names of these artists on the internet will see Tenerife. With this we will gain not only the people who come here for the concert, but they will also fill the hotels, eat in our restaurants and buy in our shops for several days. I think there are many who do not see what the end result will be and how it will affect them. Sometimes traditional marketing campaigns don't bring results but this is complementary and takes Tenerife to the highest levels in tourism, culture and much more. It's great that the business sector is involved, it is an example of their dedication to the promotion of the island. Robert Konrad, chief executive Kurt Konrad CIA, SA and Golf Costa Adeje: We've done as much as we can to help with this concert. We also helped with the Elton John and Rod Stewart concerts, which went well. The expensive part is the mounting of the infrastructure, and the stage, and the dismantling afterwards. The first two concerts featured in prime time news on Spanish television, so they were great for everyone involved. Of course the organisers need more help, but the politicans prefer to have concerts in the north, and this one is in the south. In the future, I'd like to see a 'music week', typically after the Easter holidays when the tourist numbers are usually low, like a mini-Glastonbury. Then people would avoid Easter and come here afterwards, like they do in Austria where they have concerts at a ski resort in low season. The precinct at Golf Costa Adeje can hold 30 to 35,000 people – just think of the media repercussions with superstars coming here! It seems that all the sponsors and collaborators share the same view, that the island needs events such as this, and that we must all have a big re-think and invent new ways to attract visitors. Even though money’s too tight to mention in today’s economic climate, what is certain is that Simply Red fans will be there, to share their last chance to see the band, here in Tenerife. See you there! This article appears in the print edition 620 of Island Connections
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